Chain-link-bending machine.



E. MOOARTHY. GHAiN LINK BENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OUT- 21,1910.

1,01 1,829. Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wMSZS LULUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

E. MQOARTHY.

CHAIN LINK BENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, 21, 1910.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPN 60., WASHINGTON, D. c.

B. MOGARTHY.

CHAIN LINK BEN DING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED 001. 21, 1910.

1,01 1,829. Patntd Dec. 12, 1911.

6 'SHBBTSSHEET 3.

I K fiwilwl' wwwwesz M777? W 0 ,3215 Q3) QXY COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0..WASHINGTON. u. c.

E. MoGA'RTHY.

CHAIN LINK BENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED OOT- 21,-1910.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UV? mud mm-M COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 10.; WASHINGTON, D c.

B. MOGARTHY.

CHAIN LINK BENDING MAGHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT 21. 1910.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

5 SHE-ETPSHEET 6 FIC EMME'I MCCARTHY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TODOV/DEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PRAIRIE CITY, IOWA, A CORPORATION OFIOWA.

CHAIN-LINK-BENDING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Application filed. October 21, 1910. Serial No. 588,264.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMMET MCCARTHY, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in ChainLink-BendingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rod bending machines, and has particularreference to apparatus designed to form rods by a bending process intoshapes so designed as to adapt the bent pieces to be linked together orinterlocked to form a flexible chain or conveyer that will be especiallysuitable for use in implements employed for digging potatoes.

The chief objects of the improvements which constitute the subjectmatter of this application for patent are to provide a simple machinefor the purpose stated in which the working parts are designed so thatthey will have unusual strength, thus rendering the machine capable ofwithstanding the severe strain to which it is necessarily subjected; tofurnish means for relieving the shock of the operative movement or therecoil in the heavier reciprocating parts, and to produce a machine thatmay be run at a comparatively high speed with the result of increasingthe-output for a given period of time.

Other objects of this invention are to furnish means for adjustingvarious parts of the apparatus to compensate for wear or to vary theshape of the finished product; to provide devices for reducing thefriction between contacting parts, and to arrange certain of thecooperating members in such a relation as to leverage, that theapplication of .the power will be made to the best possible advantage.

Further objects are to provide the drive pulley and main gears withcomparatively heavy rims, so that they will have a governing function byregulating the rotary movement of the shafts after the manner of a flywheel; to furnish an adjustable stop or guide to aid in properly placingthe rod to be bent in operative position in the ma.- chine, and toarrange a simple durable and quick acting clutch between the drive shaftand the rest of the mechanism, so designed that when thrown into or outof operative position the movement will be smooth and ;end and a even,thus permitting a-comparatively high speed with a corresponding increasein the general efficiency, and prolonging the life of the machine, byrelieving the moving parts from undue shock.

I accomplish the above mentioned results and others of practicaladvantage by the employment of the apparatus illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this application.

The machine is shown operatively assembled and in addition the importantdetails of construction are disclosed in various fragmentary andsectional views designated as follows 2- Figure 1 is a top plan View;Fig. 2 is a side elevation, the structure being viewed from the left;Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, with some of the parts broken away andothers removed; Fig. 4c is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 5 is apartial view showing in section the main cam shaft and mechanism mountedthereon; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the operatingmechanism for the slidable forming plate for the purpose of disclosingthe manner of supporting the slide frame upon the main cam shaft; Fig. 7is a top plan view of the slidable forming plate; Fig. 8 is a viewshowing a portion of therack for operating the rock bar, and thesegmental driving gear therefor; Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing themanner of supporting the slidable forming members; Fig. 10 is a top planview of the rock bar upon one side, one of the hinge knuckles being insection to clearly show the manner of mounting the link forming pin;Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the clutch mechanism; Fig. 12 is a sideelevation of the cam bearing clutch member; Figs. 13 and 14 are an sideelevation respectively, of the clutch pin; Fig. 15 is a top plan view ofthe clutch pin operating yoke; Fig. 16 is an end elevation of the slideplate shown in Fig. 7 Fig. 17 is a View of the clutch pin seen from theunder side; Fig. 18 is a perspective View of a completed chain-link.

Referring to the details of the drawings, the numeral 20 indicates arectangular frame forming the bed of the machine, supported at the frontand rear by frame standards 21, 22, which are braced by connecting Irails 23. Upon the rear end of the said bed frame is mounted a driveshaft 24, extending transversely of the frame and journaled in boxes 25.One end of this shaft projects beyond its bearing, and carries a drivingpulley 26, which is made with an unusually heavy rim, so that it mayperform the func tion of a fly wheel as previously mentioned. Mountedparallel with the drive shaft is a countershaft 27, journaled inbearings 28, which are carried upon the bed frame 20. This countershaftbears a loose gear wheel 29, which is mounted just inside the frame, andreceives motion from an intermeshing pinion 30, keyed on the drive shaft24. Located about midway between the said countershaft and the front ofthe machine, and upon a lower plane than the previously mentionedshafts, is a rock-shaft 31, the ends of which project through, and arejournaled in the side members of the bed frame, an additional support inthe form of a block or bracket 32 being arranged in the median line ofthe frame. The projecting ends of said rock-shaft carry rock arms orlevers 33, which extend upon both sides of the said shaft. Theserock-levers are operated by cam-disks 34, mounted upon the ends of thecounter-shaft 27, which project beyond their boxes for this purpose. Therear end of each rock-lever projects into the path of its respectivecam, and is furnished with an adjustable contact plate 35, secured tothe upper face of the lever by screwsBG, the rear end being engaged byan adjusting screw 37 which passes upward through a threaded hole in thelever to engage the under side of the said plate 35. To adjust theplate, the screws 36 are first loosened and-the adjusting screw 37 thenturned to give the required throw to the lever, after which the plate isagain secured by the screws 36.

The purpose of the machine, as previously stated, is to bend the ends ofa rod of a given length into hooks of a special form to form a chainlink or member of the shape shown in Fig. 18, and the devices whichengage and hold the said rod while it is being formed and the mechanismwhich bends the rod into the required shape will now be described.

In order to produce the compound curves illustrated in said Fig. 18, twodistinct bending operations are required; first, the ends of the rod arebent upwardly at approximately right angles with the main portion of therod, such upturned parts being indicated at 38; second, the outerportion of each part 38 is bent forward and downward forming the hookportion 39. Upon the front of the bed frame 20 is arranged a horizontalframe plate 40, cut out in the middle of its front margin, leaving aspace or recess 41 (Fig. 4) to accommodate mechanism which will bepresently described. Upon this frame plate are fixed bed plates 41 whichsupport two forming members or slide plates 42, (Fig. 9) adapted to movetransversely to the main frame, and held in alinement by a pair ofrectangular blocks or lugs 43 integral with said bed plates, which entersimilarly shaped apertures 44 in the said slide plates. The plates 42are held in position by caps 45, which rest on the blocks 43 and aresecured by screws 46. Each slide plate 42 carries a rock-bar 47 (Fig.10) provided with ears or knuckles 48, 50 which cooperate with similarknuckles 50, 49, on the slide plate to form hinges. There are two of theknuckles 48 at one end of the bar, 47, separated by a sufficientinterval to receive the corresponding knuckle 50 of the plate 42, andthe hinge thus formed is provided with a pin or pintle 51, which, inaddition to its function as a pivot for the hinge, has another otlice,which is performed by a proj ecting end 52 of the pintle, adapted toform a fulcrum around which the end of the rod to be shaped is turned tomake one of the bends. The said pin or pintle. 51 has a collar 53, whichis let into a counterbore 54 in the outside knuckle 48, and theprojecting end or point 52 is decentered, forming an eccentric, so that,by turning the pintle in its bearings, the position of the point 52 maybe adjusted about the axis of the pin of which it forms a part, andrelatively to the cooperating red-forming elements. The pintle 51 issecured in said adjusted position by a set screw, which engages athreaded hole in the knuckle 50. By this means the bends formed in theopposite ends of the rod may be made exactly alike, so that when theshaped rods are linked together to form a conveyer chain, there will. beno appreciable variation in the lengths of the opposite sides of thesaid chain when assembled. The inner hinges formed by the knuckles 49,50 are supplied with a common pintle or red 55 which extends across therecess 41 and is loosely fitted in said knuckles, so that the latter mayslide longitudinally as well as rotate thereon. Mounted fast upon thispintle or red 55 is a sector gear 56 (Fig. 2) meshing with and receivingmotion from a rack bar 57, which extends to the rear of the main frame,being slidably supported near the front end in a bracket 58 extendingupward from the frame plate 40. The said gear 56 is adapted to rock thebars 47 by means of a lever consisting of a shaft or red 59 which passesthrough a hole in the web of the said gear and is keyed fast therein,while its ends project upon each side and are fitted to slide, and alsoto rotate, in ears or lugs 60 attached to the rock-bars 47. It will beunderstood. that when the gear 56 is turned or rocked in its bearings,the said lever 59 will move bodily therewith about the axis of said gearand rock both bars 47 upon their hinges.

The slide plates 42 are reciprocated by mechanisms connected with thecounter shaft 27 constructed as follows :Attached to the rear of eachplate 42 is a bracket 61, secured by bolts which pass through slots topermit adjustment by screws 61 (Figs. 1 and 7) and pivoted to thesebrackets are links or levers 62, which meet in the median line and arepivoted at a common point to a connection 63, slidable on theframe-plate 4-0 in a direction longitudinal to the main frame. The links62 thus constitute a com pound or toggle-jointed lever, connected by arod 61 with a slide frame supported upon the counter-shaft 27 andtransverse beam 64? forming a bearing for the rod. The said framecomprises a rectangular body portion having a front wall or plate 65(Fig. 6) and two lateral walls 66, the remaining sides being open. Thelateral walls are reduced in height toward the rear and are providedwith longitudinal slots 67, in which are slidably fitted blocks or boxes68, having holes 69 through which the said counter-shaft 27 passes. Thesaid rod 64 has right and left hand threads at each end to facilitateadjustment and is furnished with am nuts 70, to secure the connectionsin adjusted position. The slide frame is operatedby two disk cams 71,72, (Fig. 1) mounted upon the counter-shaft 27 outside of, and adjacentto the said boxes 68. Rollers 73 are mounted upon each side of the bodyof the slide frame and are arranged in the path of the respective diskcams, so that when the countershaft is rotated the cams 71, 72, willengage the said rollers 7 3 and move the slide-frame forward, thismovement, through the action of the toggle jointed levers 62 causing theslide plates 42 to move apart. As the action of the cams 71, 72, is tomove the slide frame forward only, in order to return the frame andattachments to their initial positions, I provide springs 7 4 whichconnect the rear ends of the sides of the slide frame with a fixed pointon the main frame. The rack bar 57, previously mentioned, is supported.in grooves 75, Fig. 5, formed by rabbeting the side walls of the body ofthe slide frame and completing the grooves by means of a cover plate 76.The said rack bar is operated in one direction by a segmental gear 77 5and 8) which is keyed fast on the countershaft 27 in the median linebetween the said boXes 68. This gear is provided with a sufficientnumber of teeth to cause the proper throw to the rack bar 57, which, inturn, actuates the sector gear 56, giving it an oscillating rotary orrocking motion. When the countershaft 27 rotates, the segmental gear 7 7mounted thereon will carry the rack-bar 57 with it until the point isreached where the gear will become disengaged from the rack, and thelatter will be returned to its initial position by the action of acoiled spring 78, attached by a chain 57 a (Fig. 1) to the rear end ofthe bar. This chain passes over a suitable pulley 57 mounted on abracket frame 57 carried by the rear frame standard 22. A buffer spring57 is interposed between the rear end of the rack 57 and the upper endof the bracket 57 to reduce the shock of the return movement of saidbar. The gear 77 when it leaves the rack will continue to rotate untilit has made one complete revolution, or until the counter-shaft has beenautomatically thrown out of gear by means to be described, thus leavingthe cooperating mechanism in initial position. The parts operated by thesaid gear 77 being comparatively heavy, the power required to move themwhen performing work makes it necessary to reinforce some of the teethin the gear 77 to prevent their being broken by the force of the impactwhen thrown into gear with the rack bar 57. This is done by making thefirst and last teeth of the segment double, as shown at 79, (Fig. 8) andthe rack 57 with which the gear meshes is adapted to accommodate saiddouble teeth by omitting a tooth at the proper points so as to leavespaces 80 for the said double or reinforced teeth to enter.

The forward ends of the rock levers 33 project beneath the outer ends ofrock arms 81 which extend at right angles to said levers and are mountedon rock-shafts 82, journaled in brackets 83. The said arms 81 are notattached to the levers 33, but simply rest thereon by their own weight.To lessen the friction at the points of contact between these members, aspherical bearing 84 is mounted on the under face of each arm 81, thedetails of the bearing not being shown, since devices of this characterare in common use as casters in trucks and other simi lar heavyarticles, and their construction is well understood.

During the operation of the machine, the drive shaft 24 and the loosegear 29 are given a continuous motion, while the counter-shaft 27 has anintermittent movement, being thrown into and out of gear as required bymeans of a clutch arranged as follows:--The disk cam 71, mounted on thecounter-shaft adjacent to the gear 29, is provided with a hub 85 (Figs.11, 12) which has a comparatively deep peripheral groove 86. A hole 87is bored through the said hub parallel with its shaft, and in this holeis slidably mounted a clutch pin 88, the position of the hole 87 beingsuch that the said pin passes laterally through said groove 86. Arrangedparallel with said hole 87 is a smaller hole 89, which opens on the endof the hub next to the gear, but does not extend entirely through thehub. The holes 87 and 89 are connected by a slot 90, which isco-extensive with the shorter hole 89.

The pin 88 is provided with a laterally projecting lug or finger 91,which projects through the slot 00 into the bore 89, where it is engagedby a coiled spring 92, which tends to hold the pin ag in an extendedposition. The face of the gear hub adjacent the cam hub 85 furnishedwith a notch or socket 03 adapted to be operatively engaged by the pin88 when the latter is extended by the action of its spring 02. The saidpin 88 is l'io-rmally held in a retracted position by means of a yoke94:, which is curved to fit the contour of the groove 86 in which it isarrzimged, and normally engages a notch 95 in the side of the said pin.he yoke Set has a stem 06, to which is attached a rod 07 extendingdownward and. passing through a flat bar 07 fastened to the frame at therear end and having its forward end hung to the counter shaft 2? by abearing 97 (Fig. 1). The rod 97 is connected by a link 97 to a rock arm98 mounted on a rock shaft 99 journaled in the frame members Therock-shaft is operated by a clutch operating treadle 100, which is fixedon said shaft 99 at its rear end and extends beyond the frame at thefront of the machine. The yoke 0 1 is restored to its initial positionby a spring 101, and the forward end of the yoke beveled as indicated at102, so that it will readily reenter the notch as the counter-shaftrevolves after the clutch pin has been released.

Inspection] of the drawings will disclose the fact that when at rest onthe shaft 27 the cams are necessarily arranged so that there will be apreponderance of weight upon the rear side of the said shaft, and byreason of this overbalancing the vibration of the machinery will tend tocause a slight backward. movement of the rotating parts after they cometo a stop at the end of each complete revolution, and this would in timeinterfere with the proper working of the machine. To prevent this backmovement I provide a detent device con'iprising a dog 103 (Fig. 1)pivoted at 10-1 to the outer side of the frame and having a spring 105which holds the dog against a stop 106. The front end of the dog isprovided with a tooth 107 which is thus yieldingly maintained in thepath of the cam 34,, and will engage the latter to prevent retrogrademovement, as plainly shown in Fig. 2

The operation of the machine is as follows :-The pulley 26 having beenconnected with any available source of power the drive shaftand gears20, 30, will have a continuous motion while the remaining mechanisms areintermittently at rest in their normal or initial positions, shown inthe drawing in the assembled views. The rods that are to be formed arefirst cut to the required length and have their ends heated tofacilitate bending. The operator stands at the front of the machine andseizing a rod with a pair of tongs, places it in a groove 108, Fig. 4;,formed by chamfering the upper angle of the frame plate 10, bringing theleft hand end of the rod against a stop or guide 109, slidably supportedon an arm 110 attached to the frame, and secured in adjusted position bya set screw 111 (Fig. 1). The position of a rod placed in the groove asabove described is shown in dotted outlines 112. The rod being in properposition, the operator depresses the treadle 100 which immediatelyreleases the clutch pin 88 and the latter is thrown. by its spring 02into engagement with the socket 93, thus actuating the coui'itershaft27. The first action of the mechanism will be to move the slide frameforward by means of the cams 71, 72, thus separating the slideplates 412by the action of the toggle jointed levers, and projecting the points orends 52 of the pintles 51, into the path taken by the end of the rodduring the production of the second bend hereinafter described. When theslide plates have been extended they are held in this position by theircams 71, 72, while the cams 3% upon the outer ends of the countershaftoperate the rock levers 33 to move each rock-arm 81 upward carrying theend of the rod to a vertical position against the end of the slide barwhich is rounded as indicated at 113 to give the proper shape to thebend. The part 38 of the rod now projects nearly vertically upwardbehind the point of the pintle 51. The next step is the bending of theextremity of the said part 38 forward and downward upon the point 52.This is accomplished by the forward rocking movement of the bars at?which are supplied with anti-friction rollers 114i adapted to engage theends of the rods and carry them against the points 52 and as said pointsare atthe center of the rock bar movement the result will be to give asymmetrical curve to the hook. in operating the treadle it is given aquick downward movement sufficient to free the clutch pin, and thenimmediately released allowing the yoke to rise until it strikes againstthe bottom of the groove 86, upon which it rides. and as the yoke willthus be in the path of the pin as the latter travels bodily around theshaft axis, the tapering end of the yoke will enter the notch in the pinand force it back to its initial or retracted position, thus releasingthe clutch, and stopping the mechanism controlled thereby. Thus eachtreadle movement will cause a single revolution of the countershaft 27.The rock bars will be held in extended position until the second bendhas been completed. At this point the rack bar 57 will be released andthe action of the spring 78 will throw the sector gear and connectedrock bars back to their initial positions, and practicallysimultaneously therewith the cams 71, 72, will clear the rollers 73 andthe springs 74 restore the sliding frame to its normal position,retracting the plates 42, and bars 47, so that the pins 52 will beremoved from engagement with the bent rod permitting the latter to beremoved so that another straight rod may be substituted therefor and theoperation above described repeated to form the second rod and thus acompleted link is formed at each revolution of the countershaft, so longas the blank rods are properly fed to the forming mechanism.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new is 1. In a rodbending machine, the combination with the frame, a drive shaft, acounter-shaft, means for intermittently operating the said countershaft,a rock-shaft, operative connection between said counter-shaft and therock-shaft, slide bars adapted to be moved transversely to the saidframe, and rock-bars mounted on said slide bars, of means connected withsaid counter-shaft for operating said slide bars, a sector gear pivotedon said slide bars, a rack bar meshing with said sector gear, asegmental gear mounted on said counter-shaft and adapted to engage saidrack-bar, and operative connection between said sector gear and therock-bars.

2. In a rod bending machine, the combination with a frame, adrive-shaft, a countershaft, and means for intermittently connecting thecountershaft with the driveshaft, of rod bending means, comprisingslide-bars adapted to move transversely to the frame, rockbars carriedby said slidebars, means for operating said rock bars, toggle leversoperatively connected to said slide bars, a slide frame supported onsaid counter-shaft, an adjustable connection between said slide frameand the toggle levers, cams on said counter-shaft adapted to operatesaid slide frame, rock arms on said frame and means for operating saidrock arms.

3. In a rod bending machine, the combination with a frame, adrive-shaft, a counter-shaft, means for intermittently operating thecounter-shaft, a rock-shaft, operative means connecting the saidcounter-shaft and the rock-shaft, rock-arms adapted to bend the ends ofthe rod to be formed upward, operative connection between said rock-armsand the rockshaft, slide bars adapted to move transversely to the saidframe,and togglejointed levers attached to said slide-bars, of a slideframe adj ustably connected with said toggle-jointed levers, bearingsfor said slide frame mounted on said counter-shaft, cams on thecountersl1aft adapted to engage said slide-frame, rock-bars carried bysaid slidebars, and hingedly connected thereto, a sector gear rockablymounted on said slidebars, a rack bar engaging said gear, and asegmental gear mounted on said countershaft and adapted to engage saidrack-bar.

4. In a rod bending machine, the combination of a frame, a drive shaft,a countershaft, means for intermittently rotating the saidcounter-shaft, a rock-shaft, rod bending mechanism operatively connectedwith said counter-shaft and rock-shaft, said mechanism includingslide-plates, rock-bars mounted on said slide-plates, hinges connectingthe said rock-bars and slide-plates, adjustable pintles for some of thehinges, said pintles having projecting ends formed eccentric to the axisof the body of the pintle, and set screws for securing the pintles inadjusted position.

5. In a link forming machine, the combination with a frame, adrive-shaft, a counter-shaft, a clutch adapted to connect the saidshafts, manually operated means for engaging the clutch members, meansfor automatically disengaging the clutch at each revolution of saidcounter-shaft, rod bend-- ing mechanism comprising slide plates,rock-bars mounted on said plates, rock-arms pivoted on said frame, meansconnected with said counter-shaft for operating the said plates andbars, a rock-shaft, levers mounted on said rook-shaft and adapted tooperate said rock-arms, and cams on said counter-shaft adapted tooperatively engage said levers, of means for adjusting the throw of saidlevers.

6. In a link forming machine, the combination of a frame, a drive shaft,a countershaft, means for intermittently rotating the saidcounter-shaft, a rock-shaft, rod bending mechanism including rock-arms,slide-plates, rockebars mounted on said plates, hinges connecting thesaid plates and bars, adjustable pintles for some of the hinges, saidpintles having projecting ends adapted to engage the rod to be bent,said ends being formed eccentric to the axis of the body of the pintle,set screws for the pintle, levers on said rock-shaft adapted to operatesaid rock-arms, cams on said counter-shaft adapted to operatively engagethe said levers, and means for adjusting the throw of the levers.

7. In a link forming machine, the combination with a frame and a driveshaft mounted thereon, of rod bending means comprising slide platesadapted to be moved toward and away from each other, rock bars mountedon said plates, hinges for said bars, adjustable pintles for some of thehinges, eccentric projections on said pintles adapted to be engaged bythe ends of the rod to be bent, and operative connection between saidrod bending means and the drive shaft.

8. In a link forming machine, the combination with a frame, a driveshaft, a counter-shaft, a clutch adapted to connect said shafts, arock-shaft, rod-bending mechanism including rock-arms adapted toupwardly bend the ends of the rod to be formed, slide plates adapted tobe moved transversely to said frame, and toggle-jointed levers pivotedto said plates, of a slide-frame, bearings for said slide frame mountedon said counter-shaft, cams on said counter-shaft adapted to move saidslide frame in one direction, a spring adapted to move the slideframe inthe opposite direction, an adjustable connection between the slide-frameand said levers, rock-bars mounted on said plates, hinges connecting thesaid plates and rock-bars, adjustable pintles for some of Copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing theCommissioner of Patents,

said hinges, a sector gear mounted on a pintle common to the otherhinges, operative connection between said gear and the rockbars, arack-bar engaging said gear, a segmental gear mounted on saidcounter-shaft and engaging said rack-bar, and adjustable means foroperating said rock-arms.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

EMMET MCCARTHY. WVitnesses:

H. DELOS HIGMAN, M. A. MILonD.

Washington, D. G.

